Credit Where It's Due: Brian Daboll Exploited a Rules Loophole Everyone Else Apparently Missed

I'd be lying if I said I'm not doing keg stands on a big barrel of Giants Schadenfreude Oktoberfest right now. And it's not like anyone would be buying it if I tried, so I won't bother.

As much as I've struggled through much of this Patriots season, there's their kind of 2-6, and then there is the Giants (and Jets) kind. On the one hand, you've gotten a small, Trader Joe's sample counter-sized taste of your rookie quarterback and it's enough to make you realize you could be feasting for years to come. 

On the other, you've got that stat above. Which is a record that will never be challenged, never mind surpassed. The franchise QB the Giants in whose hands they put all their hopes and dreams is in his sixth season. And help is not on the way. And Giants fans like Reags have gone beyond being restless and are in full-on revolt:

But still, in the middle of all of this, with Brian Daboll standing in unemployment's on-deck circle, a guy can still come up with something impressive. The sort of mental gymnastics that made John Mara hire him in the first place. Some 5-D chess playing that proves the old adage that every time you watch football, you can see something you've never witnessed before.

Last night Daboll exploited an obscure loophole in the NFL rule book and used it to his advantage. If Daniel Jones hadn't cocked things up by throwing an interception and the Giants had one, this might one might have taken its place in the pantheon of great coaching innovations like the Fumblerooskie, the Fake Spike or the Ineligible Receiver formation that helped the Pats beat the Ravens in the 2014 Divisional game. 

Here it is explained:

And while we're giving credit where credit is due, the ruse might have eluded Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, but Eli Manning recognized in real time what Daboll was doing:

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While Peyton clocked the fact Pittsburgh can't decline that penalty (I guess I'd never realized that before so it was news to me), meaning they were at Daboll's mercy. Which makes it even better, since Mike Tomlin had pulled the Intentional 12-Men Penalty gag on the Jets a few weeks ago. Not to get the ball back the way Daboll did, but simply to fuck with Aaron Rodgers. Successfully, I might add:

Again, by no means was I rooting for the Giants or hoping this worked. I don't know if I've ever had a bad day that included a loss by that loathesome franchise that owns property with little red plastic hotels on them in my head for all eternity:

But I can admire the intellect it takes to have come up with this. With Daboll's whole professional world falling down around him. Under all the pressure and scrutiny. In a situation that is essentially hopeless. He and his staff came up with something no one else has, and put it to perfect use at the most opportune time. He just couldn't succeed with it because his quarterback is a natural disaster. 

Still, if you can't respect the innovative mind at work here regardless of your team affiliation, than it's time to take a look within. Perhaps football is not for you. 

That said, enjoy it while it lasts. There is a 0.0% chance this loophole survives its first encounter with the NFL Rules Committee. There's nothing those buzzkills hate more than something that gives coaches a change to look smarter than them.